‘What luck.’ Then Bragi reached for Thóra’s cup and peered into it. ‘I was hoping you’d conjured up some coffee.’
Thóra shook her head. ‘Sorry. I’ll pick some up later; I’ve got to stop at the shops on the way home anyway.’ She got up to leave. ‘I was wondering whether you could do me one small favour.’
‘Certainly.’ Bragi spread out his arms to indicate that she should fire away. ‘What is it?’
‘I was wondering whether you know the person who prosecuted Jósteinn’s case; I remember he was about your age.’ She told Bragi his name and he said he knew the man well. ‘I wonder whether you’d be willing to call him and have a chat about it.’
‘That should be fine. About what aspects, specifically?’
‘The files don’t state clearly enough how the police got hold of the photographs that Jósteinn’s conviction seems largely to be based on. As I understand it, the police received an anonymous tip-off about where to find them while Jósteinn was in custody. His apartment had been searched before that but no photos had been found. I think it’s likely that the police or prosecutor knew or suspected who the source was, although nothing was said about it during the trial or the verdict. Jósteinn’s a real loner, which makes it unlikely that he had an accomplice or a friend who knew about them.’
‘So who do you think tipped them off?’
‘I have no idea, but I’m curious about how little attention Ari, Jósteinn’s lawyer, paid to this detail of the case; he could at least have mentioned the doubt that must have existed about whether the photographs were actually Jósteinn’s. Jósteinn isn’t in any of the pictures, although his fingerprints were found on several of them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he’s not guilty, I’m simply wondering whether this flaw in the defence is the reason Jósteinn’s got it in for his former lawyer – who also ended up as his supervisor, in fact.’ She started towards the door. ‘It’s not a crucial detail; I’d just feel happier knowing what the man’s up to.’
‘No problem. I’ll see whether I can find anything out.’ Bragi pulled a telephone book from one of his desk drawers, but it was stuffed in so tightly that he had huge difficulty getting it out.
‘Have you never thought of using ja.is?’ asked Thóra from the doorway. He shook his head and opened the thick, battered book.
The report was now four pages long and although Thóra could easily have added more information, it would be counterproductive to make it too comprehensive or include too many minor details. That would draw attention away from the main points of the case, which were that the defence lawyer had omitted to mention that he was related to one of the victims, and that a sex crime had been committed at the residence, which the perpetrator had had every reason to hide. It was also important to clearly convey how many people had regularly visited the place, most of them in the middle of the night – the same time of day the fire had been started – and some of them in an intoxicated state. These facts were relevant to the original investigation and therefore should have been taken into consideration; if they had been, they might very well have persuaded the judge to reach a different conclusion concerning who started the fire, or even to send the case back for further investigation. The only thing Thóra needed before submitting the petition was the full name of the person who had raped Lísa.
Thóra wondered whether she should call the police to check whether they’d got the name yet. It would hardly be much of a surprise, given that Thóra had all but handed them a description of the man, along with a photo, on a silver platter. Her visit to Ragna the previous evening had gone very well. After explaining to the girl what she was looking for, she’d sat down at her bedside and gone through the photos on the Facebook page. Matthew watched the girl’s eye movements and interpreted her reactions. She said no to one face after another until Thóra clicked on a photo of Margeir, Friðleifur and a young man who appeared to be absolutely paralytic – like most of the visitors, in fact. Ragna blinked again and again, which made it hard for Matthew to work out whether she meant yes or no, but she appeared to be very affected by the image. She then shut her eyes tightly and Thóra had to ask her three times whether this third man was the person who’d raped her, each time in a more gentle voice. Eventually the girl opened her eyes, stared at the screen and blinked once. Yes. Then she’d closed them and kept them closed until Thóra and Matthew said goodbye. Before they did, Thóra had told her slowly that she was going to go straight to the police station, and promised her that this man would get what was coming to him. It wouldn’t matter if he denied it, since a DNA sample existed that could confirm his guilt regarding Lísa. Ragna would doubtless need to answer some questions from the police, but the burden of her secret abuse would finally be lifted from her shoulders. Before they left the hospital Thóra had let the duty nurse know what had happened and asked her to keep an eye on Ragna in view of the agitated state that she must now be in.
They’d gone straight from the National Hospital to the police station, and for the third time that day Thóra opened her laptop and logged onto the Facebook page. Unfortunately the officer with whom she’d been in contact regarding the case was otherwise engaged. They either had to come back later or speak to his assistant. She chose the latter option. She felt that she had to report her discovery immediately; the crimes that the bastard in the photo had committed had been hushed up for far too long. As a result she had to tell the story from beginning to end, though she got the impression that the man had already heard some of the details. She was slightly relieved by this, since it meant that the case was at least on the police’s agenda, even though Ragna had responded negatively when Thóra asked whether the police had spoken to her. Nevertheless, the officer did his best not to give anything away, having no doubt studied and practised the technique of letting an interviewee speak uninterrupted in the hope that he or she would say more than he intended. Of course in this case, it was a pointless tactic; Thóra had no desire whatsoever to hide anything from the police. It wasn’t until they came to Thóra’s second visit to Ragna that the police officer’s poker face slipped, in the moment when she showed him the photo of the man Ragna had indicated was guilty. Luckily, the photo had a caption: Good times – Margeir, Friðleifur and Bjarki. Bjarki’s appearance gave no indication that he was a pervert; he looked like a perfectly normal young man, albeit a drunk one. Often the worst of human nature can hide behind the mask of ordinariness.
But now it was the police’s job to find out who this Bjarki was; the name was too common for Thóra to be able to locate him herself. She’d checked to see whether he belonged to the Facebook group; he didn’t, but it was possible to see who had uploaded the photo – a woman who was listed under her full name. Although Thóra had this information, she decided to leave it to the police to contact the woman; there was no point Thóra calling her if it meant that she might ruin the investigation, which would now surely shift into top gear.
Bragi appeared in the doorway. ‘I spoke to the prosecutor but I didn’t get much out of him. The police were given the photos during the last stages of the investigation and there was no clue to the sender’s identity on the envelope. It was covered in fingerprints, since it had gone through the postal system, but none of the prints were in the police database. So no one knows who sent the pictures, although it’s clear that it wasn’t Jósteinn, both because he had no reason to strengthen the case against himself and because he was in custody when they were posted. His mother knew nothing about it. Apparently she came across as extremely unsympathetic in court. In fact the prosecutor thought she’d have had no hesitation in sending the photos herself, since she scarcely seemed to care about her son at all – and probably would have admitted as much. When she testified, it left most people feeling distinctly uneasy. Jósteinn is clearly the product of an abnormal upbringing – if you can call complete indifference an upbringing.’